The NBA Draft had a new headline with 5-star prospect Thon Maker suddenly deciding to skip college altogether and declare for the NBA Draft.
Thus, while the jury is still out on whether he is eligible, the scouts and the sportswriters can already debate on whether he's draftable.
One of the sportswriters who could be somewhat an authority about Maker is Sportsnet writer Gare Joyce. He observed Maker in a prep school tournament in Kentucky and also at the Nike Hoops Summit where he played for the World team against the USA's best. He shares his findings.
"Maker struggled to make an impact. He watched a lot of the tournament from the bench with foul trouble," Joyce said. "But what I saw in Paducah, Kentucky, was a willowy teenager who was pushed out to the perimeter by kids six inches shorter and had little impact at all." In contrast, his teammate Jamal Murray, a projected lottery candidate in this year's draft, took the scoring cudgels and shone like a star.
Joyce says that Maker should have gone to college this fall, but admits that "he wouldn't have been a dominant figure, an immediate game changer."
Most of the hype surrounding Maker came from a series of mix tapes, but upon closer and longer observation, Maker's actual impact diminishes immensely. SI.com had a roundtable on the Sudanese-Australian and the results are not impressive.
Ben Golliver thinks he is more of an investment, similar to Bruno Cabocio. But is any team willing to sacrifice a first round pick on him? Golliver also wants to ease up on the Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett or Giannis Antetokounmpo comparisons.
"Even though he usually plays hard, the game often goes on around him due to his lack of awareness and limited polish. He's the polar opposite of someone like Kristaps Porzingis from a feel standpoint."
Most of the observations being "two years away" and that he should spend time in the D-League. But they did mention that it only takes one team to take the chance.
The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers are the teams with late-first round picks. While they are looking to trade for a superstar, one of their spare picks could be used on Maker if they fail to package the pick in a trade. Boston Celtics at no.23, their own pick and their third first rounder could be the clincher.
Here's the latest mixtape for Thon Maker from The Mars Reel.